How the Threads algorithm works

Meta publishes a system card for the Threads feed in its Transparency Centre, last updated in March 2025. It describes three steps:

1. Gather inventory: posts from accounts you follow plus a portion of public Threads content that meets Meta's quality and integrity rules.
2. Use signals: information about each post and about how you've engaged with similar accounts, posts and topics.
3. Rank: posts the system predicts will be more valuable to you are shown higher in your feed.

Source: Meta Transparency Centre: Instagram Threads Feed AI system, checked 14 October 2026

The system card names the predictions that matter most. For each post, Threads estimates how likely you are to:

• Like the post.
• Reply to it.
• Click it, then go on to another post or to the author's profile.
• Spend time viewing it or its full page.
• Scroll past it without engaging.

Source: Meta Transparency Centre: Instagram Threads Feed AI system, checked 14 October 2026

The signals Meta lists are mostly about your recent behaviour and how a post is doing:

• Your engagement on the feed over periods from one hour to 84 days, including how long you view posts.
• Posts you've liked very recently, and how often you like a particular author.
• Your own posting and replying over the past week or month.
• How people engage with replies, not just with the original post.
• Post-level numbers, such as impressions and the ratio of likes to impressions.
• Your country and device.

Source: Meta Transparency Centre: Instagram Threads Feed AI system, checked 14 October 2026

Meta doesn't publish weights or tips for Threads, so the honest reading is what the predictions imply. A post earns its place by being liked, replied to and read, and loses ground when people scroll past it.

• Make the first line the point. A post people stop on beats one they skim.
• Ask for replies with a real question. Replies are both a prediction and a signal.
• Reply to the people who reply to you, since conversation around a post is tracked.
• Use one relevant topic tag. Tagging a topic lets people find the post in real time.
• Post steadily. Signals look back over days and weeks, not just the last hour.

Sources: Meta Transparency Centre: Instagram Threads Feed AI system, checked 14 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: Tag a topic in your post on Threads, checked 14 October 2026

The feed is not the only way in. Meta has added several routes that put posts in front of people who don't follow you yet:

• Topic tags: one per post, linking your post to a live list of posts on that topic.
• Communities: public spaces built around shared interests, which members pin to their feeds menu.
• Custom feeds: people can build feeds around topics or accounts and set one as the feed they open first.
• Instagram and Facebook: Meta says eligible Threads posts can be recommended to people on those apps, and Insights shows when views came from there.

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: Tag a topic in your post on Threads, checked 14 October 2026; Meta Newsroom: Introducing Threads Communities, checked 14 October 2026; Meta Newsroom: New Threads Features for a More Personalized Experience That You Control, checked 14 October 2026

Yes, and that affects who sees your posts. Tapping the Threads logo and choosing Following shows only accounts a person follows, newest first, with no recommendations. People can also hide a post, mute or unfollow an account, or report a post, after which the system shows less like it.

Since February 2026, Dear Algo lets people write a public post asking for more or less of a topic for three days. Your Algo, from June 2026, does the same privately for one, three or seven days. Both started in a handful of countries, including the US and UK.

Sources: Meta Transparency Centre: Instagram Threads Feed AI system, checked 14 October 2026; Meta Newsroom: Control Your Threads Feed With New Dear Algo Feature, checked 14 October 2026; Meta Newsroom: New Features to Celebrate 500 Million Monthly Users on Threads, checked 14 October 2026

Posts have to meet Meta's quality and integrity rules to be gathered into feeds at all. On Threads, Account Status has a section called What can't be recommended, which lists any of your posts affected and lets you edit, remove or request a review.

Political content is handled separately: Meta says Threads may recommend it in feed suggestions and notifications, and people can change how much they see at any time.

Sources: Meta Transparency Centre: Instagram Threads Feed AI system, checked 14 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: What to do if you don't think Threads should have taken down your post, checked 14 October 2026; Meta Transparency Centre: Our approach to political content, checked 14 October 2026

Zolyp is our product, so weigh this section with that in mind. Everything above rewards original posts that people choose to read and reply to, posted steadily. Zolyp keeps a Threads calendar of short posts in your brand voice, so the steady part is handled and your time can go on the replies.

Zolyp plans the week across your content themes, writes the posts and designs the visuals against your Brand Brain (your tone, colours and rules, saved once), then schedules and publishes to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads. Nothing goes out until you approve it. Plans that create the posts start at $29 a month, with a 3-day free trial and no card required.